Course Synopsis

The purpose of this course is to teach the analysis of cartoons and related forms of programming for children, in relation to the history of Western childhood and the contemporary American culture of the child. By understanding the way the child is represented in American cultural discourse, and the way animation has developed as an industry and a visual language, the course hopes to move beyond simple questions of media effects to consider what else this intersection of discourse and entertainment can tell us -- about the meaningful environment in which modern children are embedded and about the way childhood is talked about in contemporary culture.

Requirements

The most important assignment is to complete all of the reading assigned; comprehension of the arguments is crucial to success in this course. Students will write four brief media journals, providing a chance to explore reactions to how "the child" is represented in cartoons watched outside of class. Each student will be responsible for one in-class presentation, developed collaboratively in groups of three, on some concept being discussed in class; students must bring in material to view and discuss it in the context of the reading and lecture ideas. The final paper, 7 - 8 pages, due during the scheduled exam period, will be a close reading of a single animated television series or film, drawing on the materials of the course to develop an argument about the complex relationship between children and cartoons. Further explanation for these assignments will be provided in class. Attendance will also be a factor in grading.

Books (available at Groundworks Books)

Norman Klein, Seven Minutes: The Life and Death of the American Animated Cartoon (1993)
Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood (1982)
Marsha Kinder, Playing With Power (1991)

Course Schedule

August 2 -- Introduction: why study cartoons? Why study childhood?

August 4 -- Surveying the history of childhood
Reading:

• James, Jenks, and Prout, "The Presociological Child," from Theorizing Childhood
• Philippe Aries, "The Discovery of Childhood," Ch. 2 of Centuries of Childhood
• J. H. Plumb, "The New World of Children," from The Birth of a Consumer Society
• Viviana Zelizer, "From Useful to Useless: Moral conflict over child labor," Ch. 2 of Pricing the Priceless Child

August 9 -- The language of animation
[[ Media Journal due ]]
Reading:

• Norman Klein, from Seven Minutes
  -- preface, and Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 (pp 1-58, 75-80)
• Scott McCloud, "The Vocabulary of Comics," Ch. 2 of Understanding Comics

• Norman Klein, from Seven Minutes
  -- Chs. 9, 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, and 23 (pp 91-105, 156-161, 181-199, 206- 217, 229-246)

August 16 -- PROJECTS 1 and 2 due in class
[[ Media Journal due ]]
Reading:

• Chandra Mukerji, " Monsters and Muppets: The History of childhood and techniques of cultural analysis"
• Paul Wells, "Issues of Representation," from Understanding Animation

• Neil Postman, from The Disappearance of Childhood, Part One (pp. 3-64)

• Neil Postman, from The Disappearance of Childhood, Part Two (pp. 67-153)

• Marsha Kinder, from Playing With Power, Chapter 2 (pp. 39-86)

• Marsha Kinder, from Playing With Power, Chapter 4 (pp. 121-153)

September 1 -- The blurring of animation and film, child and adult
Reading:

• Stephen Prince, "True Lies: perceptual realism, digital images, and film theory"
  online at http:// communication.ucsd.edu/tlg/summer/prince.html
• Norman Klein, conclusion (pp 247-254) from Seven Minutes